Microsoft's Patch Tuesday can't break stuff if it won't install

KB5132061 throws 0x800F0993 and 0x800F0989 errors, and Redmond is saying nothing

Users are having difficulty installing Microsoft's latest Windows patch.

Patch Tuesday contained a truckload of fixes for Microsoft products. However, for some users, installing the update, KB5132061, is proving challenging. In the hours after the patch was released, multiple complaints began to surface that the download and installation were failing, with some customers reporting a 0x800F0993 error code. Others say they received a 0x800F0989 error.

Microsoft does not currently list any known issues with the update and is yet to make a statement or provide explanation for the glitch. 

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In addition to the security fixes, this patch resolves a number of known issues from previous updates, including a problem where USB Audio 1.0 devices might fail to start and display an error code 10 in Device Manager.

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In the absence of a statement from Microsoft, several users have taken to sleuthing. One, with the handle of Forceflow on the ElevenForum site, suggested the bug might be related to Windows Sandbox, and said that after disabling the feature and rebooting, the patch installed successfully.

However, others reported problems regardless of Windows Sandbox status, and alternative solutions included using DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) to check the package or downloading the update manually.

It's an important patch to install, since it addresses 726 vulnerabilities in Windows alone, and the difficulties affected users face are less than ideal.

Microsoft patches have lately displayed more gremlins than usual. Out-of-band releases are depressingly regular after updates break functionality. A September Out-of-band release, for example, was hurriedly pushed out after the September 2026 Windows security update caused trouble for Remote Desktop Services.

The October Patch Tuesday for Windows Server sent Exchange Servers toppling, with a registry edit workaround suggested. There was no out-of-band update - Microsoft said the problem had been resolved in the November update.

At least this latest release appears to be failing before users get a chance to see what is broken this time.